March 02, 2013

Face of Australia Liquid Eyeliners

March 02, 2013/ Jeanne

While researching popular Australian beauty products, I found that most Aussie beauty bloggers and YouTubers love Face of Australia's Liquid Eyeliners. I first purchased the Black Liquid Eyeliner (because one can never have too much black eyeliner!) to see if I liked the formula, and after I wore it a couple of times, I went back and bought the remaining three colours.

Face of Australia Liquid Eyeliners front

Face of Australia Liquid Eyeliner Swatches in direct sunlight. L-R Navy, Brown, Charcoal & Black

Face of Australia Liquid Eyeliner Swatches under indirect sunlight. L-R Navy, Brown, Charcoal & Black

The Face of Australia Liquid Eyeliner comes with a small brush, which I found relatively easy to use. It's faster and easier to use than a gel eyeliner with a brush, however I think felt-tip liquid eyeliners are a bit easier to use than ones with brushes. Since my eyes are bit hooded, it took me a bit of practise to find the best way to draw the most flattering line. For me I find it easiest to lie the brush flat, running parallel to my lash line and drag it across my upper eyelid so the sides of the bristles keep the line straight. I start in the middle of my eyelid, then drag the line to the outer corner, do a flick/wing and then try and get a thinner line connecting from the inner corner to the middle of my eye. As with any liquid eyeliner, I wouldn't recommend this for the waterline as it can cause irritation.

Wearing Face of Australia's Liquid Eyeliner in brown

Wearing FOA Liquid Eyeliner (top to bottom): Charcoal, Black & Navy

It goes on wet and glossy but dries to a matte finish. I found Brown, Navy, and Black to be opaque in one swipe but Charcoal took a bit of re-applying to achieve full opacity. I haven't had any problems with smudging or fading, it lasts all day and washes off easily with water (it's not waterproof). I love how it comes in colours other than black which is great for days when I don't want something as harsh and severe as black eyeliner.

You can purchase these for $8.95 from Priceline, BigW, Kmart and selected pharmacies. Priceline currently has a 3 for 2 offer on Face of Australia products.

Face of Australia is cruelty-free :)

January 26, 2013

Take this waltz: Australis' Colour Inject Mineral Lipstick

January 26, 2013/ Jeanne

Australis Colour Inject Lipstick in Honky Tonk, Salsa and Samba

Last month during Priceline's Australis sale I picked up a couple of their eye and lip products. Today I've got three of their Colour Inject Lipsticks to show you, Honky Tonk, Salsa, and Samba. I love how Australis named their Colour Inject lip products after dances! I'm a total sucker for anything with a cute name.

Swatches of Australis Colour Inject Lipstick in direct sunlight (from left to right) Honkey Tonk, Salsa and Samba

Swatches of Australis Colour Inject Lipstick in natural light

Honky Tonk is a nude pink shade with a creamy finish.

Salsa is bright medium pink with a creamy finish.

Samba is a mauve-y pink with a creamy finish.

The lipsticks were all comfortable to wear, but if my lips are extra dry or flaky, the lighter shades (Honky Tonk and Salsa) are not very forgiving and highlight any dry spots. They do have a faint "lipstick smell" reminiscent of the lipsticks my mother owned in the '90s, but the smell doesn't linger or bother me. The colour is buildable and takes a couple of swipes to achieve full opacity. They last about 4-6 hours on me and also leave behind a bit of a stain after the sheen wears away.

The lipsticks do contain SPF 15 (although it's not written on the packaging or the website -- I saw it written on the display at Priceline and even emailed Australis' customer service to double check). This is a huge plus for me since I usually wear a clear SPF lip balm underneath my lipsticks; with these I can skip that step.

I highly recommend these lipsticks. I love the fun names, the wide number of shades available and the fact they contain SPF 15.

You can purchase these (18 shades in total!) for $12.95 at Priceline, Kmart, Big W and select pharmacies. Keep an eye out on Australis' Facebook and Twitter page for any information about sales.

Australis is cruelty free :)

December 19, 2012

Christmas Inspired Mani

December 19, 2012/ Jeanne

Christmas is nearly upon us! I love painting my nails for holidays and other special events and I decided to do a Christmas manicure. The more I look at my nails, the more I can see it also working for a Chinese New Year manicure (it reminds me of the red envelopes that children receive!) I used two coats of Essence's Nail Polish in 01 Snow White from the Snow White collection topped with one coat of Australis' Nail Glitter Top Coat in Eureka.

Snow White has a flat, wide brush that I'm not yet accustomed to using; I made quite the mess around my nails and cuticles. The formula was good -- it was almost opaque in one coat, but had a bit of a visible nail line so I decided to paint on a second coat. The finish on its own is quite shiny and almost looks like a jelly polish but isn't as sheer as other jelly polishes. Eureka was easy to apply; it wasn't thick and distributing the glitter particles evenly was not a problem.

I purchased Snow White from Target for $2.62. Essence is available at Target as well as select Priceline stores.

I purchased Eureka from Priceline (on sale) for $4.95 (full priced it is $7.95). Australis is available at Target, Priceline, Kmart, and Big W.

Both Essence and Australis are cruelty free :)

December 13, 2012

Australis sale at Priceline

December 13, 2012/ Jeanne

Priceline is currently having a sale on Australis products - buy one, get one free for all eye and lip products until 17 Dec 2012. I thought it would be a great time to try some Australis products and picked up a couple of items to do a complete eye and lip look. I haven't gotten a chance to play with everything yet, but here are some swatches in case anyone is interested in the same products I am..